


Double Order of Chicken Wings

by NancyDfan



Category: Nancy Drew (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Relationship, Self Care, ace takes care of nancy, this is simple fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:21:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29052048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NancyDfan/pseuds/NancyDfan
Summary: Set 2x02 - Ace remembers Carson’s request to make sure Nancy is eating.
Relationships: Ace/Nancy Drew
Comments: 15
Kudos: 107





	Double Order of Chicken Wings

**Author's Note:**

> First completed fic for them but I feel like this was a missed opportunity for them to have Ace just show up with food. Maybe next week? 🤞🏼
> 
> Not betad. I love typos.

Three days. Ace supposes a lot can happen in three days, and if any of the last year has proven anything, Nancy will find a way to make three days feel like three years. But he is staring down the tracks at either hope or death, and he is not exactly sure which one is barreling his way. It gets harder with each ticking second to push down the fear that bubbles up his throat, and he thinks he has a justifiable right to panic. Yet he knows the relief he seeks will not be there.

So Ace turns his mind to what he can do. 

“We’re going to meet up at the cemetery in the morning,” Nancy announces as she walks and stands in the kitchen archway. “In the meantime, I guess we should all sleep. Or at least try too,” she adds with a shrug. Ace knows exactly what she means. 

“I was just about to leave,” he says slowly. He turns and holds up a pair of plates. “I made myself two sandwiches, but I’m not really feeling hungry now. Do you want the other?” 

Nancy eyes him for a second until something must occur to her. “Sure. Let me grab the soda?” 

Ace nods and walks the food into the living room. He steps back and asks, “Do you have any chips?”

“Pantry!” she calls from the kitchen, and Ace finds a couple bags of interest and drops them on the coffee table. Nancy returns shortly with cold cans of soda and a couple glasses of water. “Just in case,” she says with a soft grin. 

They eat in silence for the most part. Conversation is hard to find when death could be around the door, but the break in the action serves as a calming peace regardless. Nancy reaches for a bag of chips and grabs two generous handfuls. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was,” she tells him between bites. “I’m glad you made an extra sandwich.”

“I’m glad I made it too,” Ace answers softly. He munches on a few chips but leaves most of his food uneaten. If Nancy notices, she does not say. Instead, she looks off. She is lost in thought, and Ace takes his normal stance by watching her. He wonders what she might be thinking, but considering everything she has gone through in the past weeks, he decides against asking. 

“What should we do this summer?” Nancy asks suddenly. Ace furrows his brows. He wonders why she is asking. But then she gives him a head tilt, and he understands. Even Nancy Drew needs a distraction from time to time. 

“Well,” Ace begins. “There’s always the beach.”

Nancy nods. “The beach is fun.” She looks almost wistful as she speaks. “We went there a lot as a kid.” 

“Get sunburned much?”

“A lot of sunburns,” she laughs, and it feels good to hear it again. “It didn’t matter how much sunscreen mom put on me, I always came back a bright shade of pink.”

“You just wanted to match your hair,” Ace answers with a grin. 

Nancy snorts in protest. “I wasn’t that red!” She pauses to think. “Well, maybe sometimes I was that red.” Nancy pauses and stands. She snaps her fingers then reaching for a photo album tucked away on a shelf. She flips through the pages before stopping and holding it out for Ace to see. He spots Nancy, a very young and a very red Nancy, smiling proudly and holding a shell she must have found at the beach. “Mom was so mad. I told my dad she had put sunscreen on me already because I hated how it felt. She applied aloe vera on me for a week after.”

Ace laughs. “So, I guess younger Nancy was a troublemaker?”

“Yeah, I guess she was,” comes Nancy’s quiet response. Ace jerks his head up sensing a change, and sure enough, Nancy sits back into the chair biting her lip at whatever was on her mind. He guesses her dad, the casual reference catching her off guard. Ace knows the distance is already hard on both of them, and this is before a sea creature cursed them. Nancy lets out a forced laugh and takes the album back. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.”

Ace has come to recognize the same tactics he uses to protect himself and shrugs with a smile he hopes shows his sincerity. “I liked learning about baby rebel Nancy.” And his comment gets the desired effect as she lets out a short laugh. 

“Regardless,” Nancy replies. “I guess talking about beach trips isn’t exactly helping us figure out how to defeat the aglaeca.” 

“I don’t know,” he counters. “We need to recharge even during war.”

Nancy offers a small nod. “And eat too. Thank you for dinner.”

Ace holds up his hands. “It was your food. I just put it together.”

“Then at least I can thank you for the company,” she insists.

“Happy to be here,” he answers smoothly. Nancy stands, and he takes his cue walking to the front door and wishing Nancy a good night. She waves as he disappears down the sidewalk. Ace whistles slightly, feeling a small victory in the otherwise chaotic world they are living, and he begins his plans for tomorrow: a double order of chicken wings and a cooler of soda he just happens to have in the backseat of the car. 


End file.
